The present invention relates to a system for detecting a cable which is buried in a seabed, underground, or in a riverbed.
A communication cable, and/or a power transmission cable laid under the seabed and/or riverbed is in practice buried under the seabed and/or riverbed, in order to prevent damage to the cable by fishing nets and/or ship's anchors. When one intends to lift the buried cable on to the ship for the purpose of repairing the cable, the presence of the cable must be located. A prior tool for the location and the pick-up of a cable is a particularly shaped hook which has a structure which enables it to trench a seabed and to catch the cable. That hook is pulled by the ship so that the hook travels on the seabed in the perpendicular direction of the cable to be searched, and when the hook catches the cable, the hook is lifted on to the deck of the ship together with the cable.
However, said cable detection system has the disadvantage that the detected cable is often broken by the hook. Since the cable is fixed under the seabed, the cable would be broken by the hook unless the workship which pulls the hook stops immediately when the hook catches the cable. Accordingly, the workship must pull the hook very slowly in order not to break the cable. Therefore, it takes very long time to locate and/or pick-up a cable under the seabed.